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In Striking Syria, Trump Made All the Right Calls

After this week, American opponents will sweat a bit more, but there are bigger challenges to come.

By

Walter Russell Mead

April 7, 2017 6:38 p.m. ET

President Trump faced his first serious foreign-policy test this week. To the surprise and perhaps frustration of his critics, he passed with flying colors.

In the first place, the president read the situation correctly. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s horrific and illegal use of chemical weapons against civilians was not merely an affront to international norms. It was a probe by Mr. Assad and his patrons to test the mettle of the...